Chapter One: About Science


Sections:
1.1 The Basic Science- Physics
-Why is physics the most basic science?

1.2 Mathematics- The Language of Science
-Why is mathetmatics important to science?

1.3 The Scientific Method
-What is the scientific method? How is it used?

1.4 The Scientific Attitude
-Is a scientific fact something that is absolute and unchanging?

1.5 Scientific Hypotheses Must Be Testable
-What does it mean to say that if a hypothesis is scientific, then there must be a means of proving it wrong?

1.6 Science, Technology, and Society
-How do science and technology differ?

1.7 Science, Art, and Religion
-How are science and the arts similar? How do science and religion differ?

1.8 In Perspective
-In what ways have the efforts of many skilled scientists aid in the evolving and development of the world?

Section 1.1: The Basic Science- Physics
What is science? Science branches into the study of living things and nonliving things-the life sciences and the physical sciences.

Life Sciences include biology, zoology, and botany.
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Physical Sciences include geology, astronomy, chemistry, and physics.
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Physics is the most basic science of all sciences. It involves motion, forces, energy, matter, heat, sound, light, and the compostion of atoms. In general, Physics is really all of the other sciences combined. Physics supports chemistry, which in turn supports biology. That's why physics is so basic. You can understand other sciences much better if you understand physics.


Section 1.2: Mathetmatics- The Language of Science

Science can be analyed and described mathematically. Ideas of science in mathematic terms are unambiguous meaning they don't have double meanings that can confuse the discussion of ideas. Math makes evidence or findings in physics and in nature easier to verify or disprove by experiement.

Section 1.3: The Scientific Method

1.Recognize a problem
2.Make an educated guess-a hypothesis-about the answer
3.Predict the consequences of the hypothesis
4.Perform experiements to test the hypothesis
5.Formulate the simplest general rule that organizes the three main ingredients: hypothesis, prediction, and experimental outcome

Galileo Galilei and Francis Bacon were the principal founders of the scientific method. The scientific method is a method that is extremely effective in gaining, organizing, and applying new knowledge.

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Galileo Galilei: Italian physicist
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Francis Bacon







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Don't get too excited now!
It's not always that easy when it comes
to solving mysteries and figuring out problems. Trial and error, experimentation without guessing, or just plain accidental discovery also helps out the progress of science. Plus, science has to do more with an attitude common to scientists rather than a step by step method.





Section 1.4: The Scientific Attitude
A scientific hypothesis and a fact are completely two different things. A hypothesis is an educated guess that is only presumed to be factual until demonstrated by experiment. After tons of testing they may become known as laws or principles. However, don't get that confused with a theory!
A theory is a synthesis of a large body of information that builds upon one or more hypotheses, and upon evidence.


Theories can always change so that's why people sometimes think theories are not real. But thats not always true! Theories are constantly being refined and redefinitioned.
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Section 1.5: Scientific Hypothesis Must Be Testable
There are alot of hypotheses out there but how to prove them could be tough. Many of the time people make hypotheses on things that cannot be tested. For example, "The alignment of planets in the sky determines the best time for making decisions." You can believe it but it can't be proven. It's speculation. Or the hypothesis, "Most people stop for red lights," is also outside of science because it doesn't link up to our general understanding of nature. Here's a real scientific hypothesis: "No material object can travel faster than light." This could be proven wrong by a single experiment. How easy!

Section 1.6: Science, Technology, and Society
Science and technology are two completely different things.
Science has to do with discovering facts and relationships between phenomena in nature and with theories that organize and make sense of these facts. Also, science leads to discovery and growth of new ideas. Most importantly it doesn't intrude on human life, well physically at least.
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Technology has to do with tools, techniques, and procedures of putting the findings of science to use. As technology is used, so is the dangers of pollution, resource depletion, and even social decay. Without it though, how would we communicate and travel easily from place to place?
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Section 1.7: Science, Art, and Religion
Science, art, and religion are different even though they do overlap.

Science = Discovering and recording natural phenomena.
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Art = The value of human interactions as they pertain to the senses.
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Religion = The source, purpose, and meaning of everything.
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Science and art however are similar and very comparable.
-Literature describes the human experience and helps us learn about emotions even if we haven't experienced them yet. The arts may not give us those experiences, but they describe them to us and suggest what may be in store for us. Just like science, it tells us what is possible in nature using scientific knowledge and experimented hypotheses. In this way, we can connect relationships between different studies.

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Yes! Believe it or not kitty, everything around us is all connected in some way. Science and the arts relate in such a way that they help widen our perspective of nature!
Religion and science, however, are a different story.
The domain of science is natural order and the domain of religion is nature's purpose. Relgious beliefs and practices usually involve faith in and worship of a supreme being and the creation of human community-not the practices of science.

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Take an apple and an orange for example. They don't contradict each other but there both equally delicous!!

Section 1.8: In Perspective
More than 3000 years ago people focusted on the construction of great pyramids in Egypt.
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However, some of them took centuries to build which means that nobody witnessed both the beginning and the end of construction.
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Today our scientists, engineers, and artisans focus on buliding spaceships that orbit the earth, and others that will voyage beyond.
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Unlike those structures from 3000 years ago, the construction of spaceships of today is very brief.





Summary of Chapter One's Key Terms:

Fact- A close agreeement by competent observers of a series of observations of the same phenomena.
Hypothesis- An educated guess; a reasonable explanation of an observation or experimental result that is not fully accepted as factual until tested over and over again by experiment.
Law- A general hypothesis or statement about the relaionship of natural quantities that has been tested over and over again and has not been contradicted. Also known as a principle.
Principle- A general hypothesis or statement about the realtionship of natural quantities that has been tested over and over again and has not been contradicted; also known as a law.
Scientific Method- An orderly method for gaining, organizing, and applying new knowledge.
Theory- A synthesis of a large body of information that encompasses well-tested and verified hypotheses about aspects of the natural world.






Source: Hewitt, Paul G., Conceptual Physics. Menlo Park, California: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1999.